And the beauty of the material is that flat-out strength comes in a small diameter, like a quarter the diameter of mono. The nature of the braid or woven material makes braided line just flat-out strong. What benefits does braided line have over mono or fluoro? Some anglers also use super glue on their braided fishing line to make them stronger. Braided lines have killer breaking strength and are downright tiny. Today you’ll find line braided with artificial fibers ranging the trademarked from Dacron to the trademarked spectra and a host of other tiny solid plastic fibers in between.Īll of these lines have their benefits and drawbacks, but the number one reason you’ll want to consider using them is the power to diameter ratio. Eventually, manufacturers switched to Dacron. Originally braided line was natural threads braided together to increase line strength. Actually, before the invention of mono and fluorocarbon line, nearly all fishing lines were braided. What’s the deal with braided fishing line?Īlthough braided line has become increasingly popular over the last decade or two, the high knot strength fishing line with killer power to diameter and lack of stretch was one of the first types of fishing line invented. To make a long story short, I believe I got skunked that day, like most days, but I also got my first taste of a line I’d be using for years to come for everything from frogging for bass to floating for Steelhead. Of course, we eventually found out you couldn’t pull a small block off the bottom with it, but it was mystical, and it did feel like the future. This “spiderwire,” or whatever it was, though, was going to be the answer to all our needs. Now listen, we fished but did not fish hard and basically used our father’s and grandfather’s old tackle. He said you could pull a small block off the bottom with it. He called it “spiderwire,” a term we’d call all braided line for years to come, and said it was unbreakable. He was late, of course.Īnyways, I was fishing for the silvers with my typical 12 pound mono in the eddy when he finally rolled up and brought it out, a reel outfitted with the latest and greatest. We were going to get our hour of fishing in before we trekked off to school to be taught whatever topic we’d be ignoring for the day. The plan had been to meet a friend at the mystical backwater. My tired eyes watching the clouds part as the sun came up, lighting the coho rolling in the little eddy I often fished on cool fall mornings before class.
The first time I used a braided fishing line, it felt like I was tapping into some mystical fishing power.